Recently, the cost of energy has risen and the environmental impact of energy consumption has become better understood. As a result, it is desirable to reduce energy consumption in order to save money and protect the environment. However, conventional electronic devices, including, e.g., digital devices such as amplifiers, radios, televisions, audio/video receivers, video cassette recorders (VCRs), digital versatile disc (DVD) players, digital video recorders (DVRs), game consoles, etc., consume energy even when they are powered “off.”
For example, when conventional electronic devices are powered off, specific components in the devices remain powered on and therefore continue to consume energy and draw power from a power source, such as an outlet. The conventional electronic devices may keep these components powered on in order to ensure that the device may quickly respond to a user powering on the device, for example, by pressing a power button on the device or on a remote control. For instance, remote control sensors in conventional electronic devices are often integrated into a circuit that provides power to specific components when the device is powered off, and thus allow the specific components to draw power while the device is in a power-off mode.
This setup in conventional electronic devices has a dramatic effect on energy consumption. For example, because both the specific components and the remote control sensor continue to draw power even when the device is powered off, the conventional electronic devices tend to consume approximately 45% of their rated energy consumption while powered off, wasting a large amount of energy.